A PERSON has been hospitalised after being bitten by a snake in Creech Heath.

Emergency services were called to heath, near Wareham on Wednesday after receiving reports that an individual had been bitten by an adder.

Wareham Fire Station said a fire engine was requried to assist the ambulance service following the incident. Fire crews helped transfer the casualty from the heath to a waiting helicopter where they were then taken to Dorset County Hospital.

Creech Heath lies deep within the isle of Purbeck and covers 80 hectares of land.

A spokeswoman for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue said: "We were called to Creech Heath at 11.58am this morning to assist the ambulance service with moving a casualty for transportation to hospital after they were bitten by a snake. One crew from Wareham attended to provide manpower, and the stop was at 12.24pm."

A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said: “We were called at 10.41hrs today to an incident in the Wareham area. The resources we sent included a double-crewed land ambulance, an operations officer and an air ambulance. We conveyed one patient to Dorset County Hospital by air ambulance”.